Have your own surveyor protect your home while next door builds

Blueprint of a neighbour’s chimney breast with a hairline crack and gauge, beside a schedule of condition and a shield

For neighbours in England and Wales whose next-door project falls under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Compare quotes from party wall surveyors you can appoint for your side of the wall.

When a neighbour plans building work covered by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and you dissent (do not agree) or don’t reply, surveyors have to be appointed. You are the adjoining owner, and you can appoint your own surveyor rather than relying on the building owner’s. Your surveyor checks the proposed work and its design, makes sure your home is recorded in detail, negotiates working hours, protection and access, and reviews the party wall award before it is served. They must act fairly under the Act, but they look at the project from your side of the wall.

How a professional can help

Reviewing the design from your side: Your surveyor studies the drawings and the structural engineer’s design, such as beam bearings, foundation depths and temporary support, and raises questions with the building owner’s surveyor where something affects your property.
Recording your home room by room: They inspect and photograph your rooms, walls, ceilings, garden and outbuildings, so there is a clear record of cracks, damp and past repairs before work starts and nothing is disputed later.
Negotiating the working terms: Working hours, noise and dust control, access through your property, scaffolding, and protection of your fixtures and garden are raised with the other surveyor and settled in the party wall award.
Asking for monitoring where it matters: For deep excavation or heavy structural work close to your home, your surveyor can ask for monitoring, such as crack gauges or movement readings, so problems are noticed quickly.
Checking the party wall award: Before the party wall award is served, your surveyor checks it matches the design and the discussions, and that it covers protection, access, damage and costs. They explain it to you in plain English.
Calling on your surveyor during the work: If something worries you during the build, you can ask your surveyor to visit and raise it with the other side. Once the work is finished, they inspect your property with the other surveyor and agree how any damage is made good.

Is this right for you?

A neighbour has served a party wall notice and you want your own surveyor rather than sharing theirs.
The work is substantial, such as a basement, deep foundations or underpinning near your home.
You’re worried about cracks, noise or damage and want a proper record.
Your home is older or already has cracks, and you want that recorded properly before anything changes.
You’d like advice from a surveyor you chose, not one chosen by the other side.

How the project usually runs

Send the notice and your concerns: You share the notice, the drawings and your worries, such as noise, trees, access or existing cracks, so the surveyor knows where to focus.
Appointment under the Act: You dissent, or the 14 days pass without a reply, and the surveyor is appointed in writing under the Act. The building owner’s surveyor is told, and the two surveyors choose a third surveyor in case they disagree.
Your home is recorded: Both surveyors inspect your property, and a written and photographic record is made of its state, room by room, before any work begins.
Terms agreed, award explained: The surveyors agree the party wall award: the work, working hours, access, protection, monitoring where needed, and who pays. Your surveyor explains it to you before it is served.
During the work, then afterwards: Your surveyor answers any concerns you raise during the build. When it ends, they check your home against the record and agree repairs for any new damage.

What affects the cost

The building owner normally pays your surveyor’s reasonable fees, and the party wall award records this. Ask any surveyor to confirm.
How large and complex the neighbour’s project is, and how deep or close to your home the work will be.
How much of your property needs recording in the schedule of condition.
Whether monitoring, extra inspections or a review of the engineering design are needed.
Whether the two surveyors hand a point to a third surveyor, who charges a fee of their own.
Whether extra work you ask for mainly benefits your own property, which may be at your cost.

Your position as the adjoining owner

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 gives neighbours in England and Wales these rights. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, different rules apply, and a surveyor can explain what protects your home there.
The surveyors’ role is to settle how the work is done, with protection for your home, rather than to decide planning. You can comment on a planning application separately, through the council.
You can choose your own surveyor. You may also agree to share an agreed surveyor with the building owner, who acts for neither side.
If you don’t appoint a surveyor when asked, the Act has a process for one to be appointed on your behalf, so respond promptly.

Questions people ask

Do I have to appoint my own surveyor?

No. You can consent to the notice, share an agreed surveyor with the building owner, or appoint your own. Many neighbours choose their own surveyor for bigger or riskier work, so that someone is looking at the project with their home in mind. A party wall surveyor can explain what suits your situation.

How do I choose a surveyor for my side?

Look for experience of jobs like the one next door. Many party wall surveyors are chartered surveyors, and some belong to the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors or the Pyramus and Thisbe Club. Ask what the quote covers, and confirm who will pay the fees, which is normally the building owner.

Can my surveyor ask the builder to change the work?

They can raise questions and ask for protection, such as monitoring, working hours and temporary support, and the party wall award can set how and when the work is done. Redesigning your neighbour’s project, or stopping it, is normally beyond what the Act allows.

Will the surveyor need to come inside my home?

Usually, yes. To record the condition properly, the surveyor looks at the rooms, walls and ceilings nearest the work, and sometimes the garden and outbuildings. Point out existing cracks, damp and repairs, so they are on the record before work starts.

Do I have to let the builder into my home or garden?

Sometimes. The Act gives a building owner a right to enter neighbouring land for work it covers, normally after giving notice. Your surveyor can agree dates, hours and protection for your property in the party wall award, so you know what to expect.

Available across the UK

Party wall surveyors cover the whole of the UK. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies in England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules, and a professional can tell you what applies to your property.